The very first Rashi in this week’s parshah teaches us an amazing basic rule about tefillah. The word va’eschanan comes from the word chanun, which means to beseech (How’s that for an ArtScroll word?). Chanun means to ask for a matnas chinam, a free gift. Rashi brings this from a Sifri, which explains that really tzaddikim can base their prayers upon their righteous deeds; however, they always beseech Hashem to answer them for free, not because of their righteousness. The Medrash brings several different words to describe tefillah. Moshe Rabbeinu only used this one. Why? Because this is the trait through which Hashem runs this world, giving free gifts to us.